AgricultureBy Kayli Huber and Claire Hippen

The First Agricultural Revolution, also known as the Neolithic Revolution, is the transformation of human societies from hunting and gathering to farming.

It occurred worldwide between 10,000 BC and 2000 BC, with the earliest known developments taking place in the Middle East.

Farming and raising livestock bound people to land for cultivation and grazing grounds, and this transition resulted in many permanent settlements.

Wheat and barley were some of the first crops grown by early humans. They observed them growing in the wild and eventually gathered seeds to plant wheat and barley themselves.

Second Agricultural Revolution:

During the second revolution, new technology was invented that helped generate the kinds of surplus needed to feed thousands of people working in factories instead of in agricultural fields. The second agricultural revolution was made up of a series of innovations, improvements, and techniques in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, and other neighboring countries.

It occurred from the late 1600s all the way up to the end of the 1800s.

New technologies such as the seed drill helped farmers avoid wasting seeds and made it easier to plant in rows. Advances in breeding livestock enabled farmers to develop new breeds that were either strong milk producers or good for beef. By the 1830s, farmers were using new fertilizers on crops and feeding artificial feeds to livestock

New machines were invented to help make farming easier and more efficient. Machines like the plow and seed drill made planting crops easier.

Third Agricultural Revolution:

The third agricultural revolution was when new agricultural practices were created to help farmers all over the world. It was an international effort to help eliminate hunger by improving crop performances.

The third agricultural revolution started in the 1960s to the present. The rapid diffusion of more productive agriculture techniques and equipment took place throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

The third agricultural revolution introduced newer, higher-yielding seeds and expanded the use of fertilizers. This helped farmers to produce more of the same crop in the same amount of land. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) also started to be developed.

In modern day farming, farmers are able to plant more crops on their land. They use more pesticides to keep insects away, fertilizers to help the plants grow bigger, and higher-yielding seeds to get as many crops as they can out of their land.

Genetically Modified Organisms:

GMOs are plants and animals changed as a result of biotechnology.

GMOs have changed farming by increasing the efficiency and economics of scale allowing farmers to control planting practices and machinery on more land. By using GMOs, farmers are able to get more plants out of their land that last longer on the shelf at the store.

Pros of GMOs:

The crops are more resistant to insects

The crops have higher tolerance of pesticides, heat, cold, and drought

Higher crop yield

Increase their shelf life

Cons of GMOs:

Possible link to higher risk of allergies and cancer

Antibiotic resistance

Other organisms in the ecosystem could be harmed

Pollen from the modified plants can spread and infect other plants

This is the link to the video summary of the agricultural revolutions.